The American River College Current staff members won multiple awards at the 2022 Journalism Association of Community College’s Regional Conference for its excellence in journalism coverage and editing skills. 

The conference was held at Las Positas College in Livermore, on Oct. 22.  

The awards given were for fall 2021 to spring 2022 academic year.

The Current Staff won an award for General Excellence and the editorial staff won first place for its editorial, “How the LRCCD mishandled the COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” along with finishing in second place for another editorial “LRCCD athletes deserve indoor crowds.”

Individual awards were given out to members of the editorial staff, Lorraine Barron, Jaqueline Ruvalcaba, and Heather Amberson.

Barron received a fourth-place finish on her story on, “ARC’s women’s water polo team receiving their first win of last season.”

Ruvalcaba received third place for her review of the 2022 movie, “X,” and an honorable mention for her opinion piece on the Russian attacks earlier in the year.

Barron and Amberson both received awards for their work for on-the-spot contests at the conference, with Amberson receiving the first-place spot for her opinion piece and Barron receiving an honorable mention.

The Current is a journalism class advised by Rachel Leibrock, who has been the department’s full-time faculty member since 2017.

This was the first time since the fall of 2019 that the JACC awards were held in-person.

JACC is a non-profit corporation that assists and encourages students at two-year colleges who are pursuing journalism to improve and perfect their skills, as well as make new connections with both up and coming journalists and experienced writers.